Repeat The Past
by The White Shell Mermaid
Summary: Through circumstances, Constance, Eva and Leah end up trapped under the Evil Queen's curse. They are separated. The twins find themselves back under their Grandmother's thumb with no memories of their time at Cackle's. As the past begins to repeat, Constance, also without her memory, knows something is wrong but the curse prevents her from acting. Can they find each other again?


**This is a Oneshot deriving from my other story, **_**The Scars We Bear**_**. Through circumstances, Eva, Leah and Constance end up in Storybrooke under Regina's curse and are separated. The past begins to repeat itself when the twins find themselves back under their Grandmother, Cora's iron fist. **

**It took me awhile to get the ending sorted out and I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but I hope you enjoy anyway.**

**Lyrics: Concrete Angel by Martina Mcbride (with slight changes)**

**Trigger Warning: child abuse (physical/emotional)**

**Repeat The Past**

Constance Hardbroom looked up at the clock on the wall of her classroom. Class didn't start for another fifteen minutes, yet the two small girls who had been in her class for - she frowned as she realized she couldn't remember a time when they _weren't _in her class. How odd. But they always came early. Every day, without fail they would come in and wait patiently in their usual seats after handing in their homework.

_**They walked to school with the lunch they packed**_

_**Nobody knows what they're holding back**_

They were identical twins, with black hair pulled into crown braids and pale, almost sickly complexions. Eva, the eldest, had deep brown eyes, while Leah's were startlingly blue. That was the only physical difference between them. They had dark circles under their eyes, as if they hadn't been sleeping. There were bruises, like shadows cast across their would-be pretty faces. They were too thin and too small and far too jumpy. They wore black knee length dresses, with high necks and long sleeves and black leggings. This attire made them appear older than they were. It made it seem although they were hiding something. They always got their lunch from the cafeteria, even though that food left much to be desired and almost everyone preferred to bring their own. They had no warm clothes and so Constance kept them inside during break when it was cold. They never seemed to mind.

_**Wearing the same dresses they wore yesterday**_

_**They hide the bruises with linen and lace**_

Constance knew something was wrong but something, a strange unexplainable force, stopped her from acting.

The bell went, signalling the start of class and pulling the teacher out of her thoughts. She looked back at the clock and realized she'd just spent a good fifteen minutes thinking about her two favourite students.

_**The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask**_

_**It's hard to see the pain behind the mask**_

**o0o**

It was a frigid winter's day and large white snowflakes swirled down from heavy grey clouds. The wind howled like wolves baying at the moon and Constance was a little surprised that they hadn't canceled school. The buses however, were canceled and so she knew half her class would probably be absent anyway. That was the sole reason why she was more than a little surprised to see the twins standing in her doorway when she looked up from her marking. They were shivering from head to toe and their faces were flushed from the cold. Their black dresses were dusted with white, suggesting they'd walked from home without coats. They didn't even have hats or mitts or scarves. They were huddled together outside the door, as if fearing they'd be punished for tracking in snow. Constance noticed a bloody cut and purple bruising on Leah's cheek and her stomach clenched painfully.

She quickly moved to the door and slipped out into the hall, closing it behind her.

"You're freezing!" She couldn't keep the worry out of her voice. "Did you walk all the way from home?"

Eva didn't take her eyes off the floor. "Yes Miss." Her voice was barely more than a whisper as she held onto Leah's hand.

"Good grief. What on earth were your parents thinking?" She said even though she knew they probably weren't.

Both girls looked away then.

Constance sighed. "Come on then. Let's get you warm and sorted."

_**Bearing the burden of a secret storm**_

_**Sometimes they wish they were never born**_

She ushered them down the hall to the staffroom, which was little more than a kitchen with a sofa below the window. She muttered about incompetent parents the whole way there even though she knew it was more than that.

The only other person in the room was Mrs. Greenstone, who was doing the crossword in the newspaper. Her hair was greying and curly and she wore wire framed half moon glasses. She looked up when they came in.

"My goodness! You poor girls look froze stiff!" She rolled her eyes. "I tried telling Mr. Williams we'd do well to cancel school. It's storming like the dickens and as cold as -"

"Indeed." Constance cut her off. Mrs. Greenstone was the deputy. She was a little eccentric and probably should have retired already. Constance was certain she reminded her of someone, though she refused to admit she couldn't remember who.

"Alright, alright. I'll fetch the first aid kit." Said the older woman, as she eyed the cut on Leah's cheek.

Constance sat the two girls on the sofa and put on the kettle. The poor girls were still shivering and sniffling and she passed them a box of tissues, which they took gratefully.

There was a clatter and some grumbling as Mrs. Greenstone rummaged around in the cupboard for the first aid kit. The girls jumped and huddled closer to each other.

_**Through the wind and the rain they stand hard as stone**_

_**In their world that they can rise above**_

"Here it is." She passed the kit to Constance who made to sort out Leah while the older teacher made the tea.

A few moments later, Leah was patched up and the four of them were sipping at their respective tea. Mrs. Greenstone turned to Constance and lowered her voice. "Who are their parents?"

Constance was ashamed to admit she didn't know. "I haven't the faintest. I don't think they've ever come here. As far as I know, these girls always walk to and from school."

"Even on days like today?" Said Mrs. Greenstone incredulously.

"Apparently."

"Hmm."

**o0o**

It was the end of another school day and Constance was just about to head home. She came around the corner at the front doors to see Mr. Williams, the principle, speaking to a middle aged woman she'd never seen before. He turned when he saw her.

"Ah, Miss Hardbroom. Eva and Leah Mills, they were in class today, were they not?"

Constance came to stand in front of them. "Yes, they were. . .why? Has something happened?"

"This is their grandmother, Cora Mills. Apparently they haven't returned home." He explained.

Constance's lips thinned as she eyed the woman in question up and down. "Is it possible they are with their parents?"

"Their parents are dead." The older woman stated bluntly.

Constance knew that was lie. Everyone knew that Cora Mills was the Mayor's mother and that the Mayor was an only child. She didn't say that though. "Right. They could be at the library. I understand they often go there after school."

"I checked."

There was something about this woman that unnerved her. She was cold. Any sane grandmother would probably be worried out of her mind in this situation, but Cora Mills didn't seem at all concerned, just annoyed. As if this was nothing more than an inconvenience for her. She was well dressed and Constance spotted a ring on her finger that looked sharp enough to cut through skin. It reminded her of the cut on Leah's cheek some time back. She blinked when she felt the woman's eyes boring into her and she took an instinctive step back. This woman reminded her of someone - or something - from long ago. It was easy to imagine that the twins' bruises had come from this woman. It was easy to imagine the lack of care they probably received from her.

A while later, she left the school with a brisk, purposeful stride. She had suggested that they might have gone to a friend's house, though she knew they didn't have any friends. She didn't know where they might have gone, but she didn't trust that their grandmother had actually checked the library, so she went herself and asked after them.

She didn't know what possessed her to go looking for them herself, but she had a sick feeling that something was wrong and she wanted desperately to find them. She cared about all her students even though she often quite strict with them, but it was different with the twins. She saw them like daughters, a precious gift she'd never been granted. She longed to be able to protect them from the grandmother she was sure was cruel to them, but something continued to stop her, like invisible chains holding her back.

The temperature dropped as the sun sunk below the trees and buildings, casting long shadows into the streets and against the walls. Constance was considering giving up and going home, after all, perhaps the twins had done the same. She decided to check one last place first.

The docks were quiet aside from boats creaking as they rocked in the rippling water of the harbour and waves crashing against the shore. A stiff wind blew, determined to chill anyone who dared to come in contact with it to the bone. The last rays of weak, winter sunlight were fading fast, disappearing beneath the waves as she looked around the maze of docks. At first she saw nothing in the dying light, but just as she was about to turn around she spotted two small shapes sitting out on the end of the dock, silhouetted against the glow on the horizon.

She quickened her pace and made her way towards them, worry creeping through her veins. It was cold out here in the open with the wind howling in off the ocean and she could tell they were hardly dressed for it. What on Earth were they playing at?

"Eva? Leah? Is that you?" She called once she was close enough for them to hear.

Neither girl answered or even gave any indication that they'd heard. Constance knelt beside them. She could tell they were shivering with the cold, but she knew better than to touch them.

"Girls?" She kept her voice low so as not to startle them but they still did not respond. It was then that she noticed the distant look in their eyes. _Are they dissociating? _

_**But their dreams give them wings and they fly to a place **_

_**Where they're loved**_

_**Concrete Angel**_

"Girls?" She was careful as she placed a gentle hand on Eva's shoulder.

That seemed to do it. The small girl flinched, her eyes immediately snapping up to Constance. "Miss Hardbroom? What are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you. Your grandmother came to the school wondering why you hadn't returned home." She explained. "What are _you _doing out here? You'll both catch your deaths."

Eva looked away as Leah reached for her sister's hand. Together they gazed out at the darkening water. Constance spotted the ugly purple of more bruising on Leah's face. It hadn't been there at school.

"She lied when she said you hadn't gone home didn't she?"

Eva looked up. "She lies about a lot of things."

"I don't doubt that she does." Constance sighed. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your parents?"

Both Eva and Leah looked up at her then, slight frowns on their faces. "She never told us."

That seemed cruel to Constance. Didn't they deserve to know what had happened to orphan them? Evidently not as far as their grandmother was concerned. She looked up when she felt Eva shift a little closer to her and she carefully wrapped her arm around the small girl's shoulders. Unspoken words passed between them and Constance closed her eyes.

"I wish I could protect you, little ones."

**o0o**

Grandmother was furious. Eva had only wanted a bit of food, as hungry as they were since grandmother didn't feed them. She had mistakenly thought she could sneak into the kitchen and get something, but grandmother had seemingly been waiting for her.

"You little brat! You don't deserve to eat! How dare you come in here and steal from me!" She shouted angrily.

Eva backed away fearfully. "I-I'm s-sorry Grandmother. I'll not d-do it again."

_**Somebody cries in the middle of the night**_

_**The neighbors hear, but they turn out the light **_

"You lier! I know you will! You always do!" She backhanded Eva hard across the face.

Eva stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. "Please, Grandmother. . . We were so hungry. . ."

"I don't want to hear it, you worthless child!" She kicked Eva hard in the ribs and the girl couldn't stifle her pained cry. She tried to get away but the older woman grabbed her and threw into the wall. Eva curled up on the floor and willed it to end. She mumbled another apology, but it fell on deaf ears.

When Grandmother had finally finished with her, she swept out of the room, leaving Eva on the floor, bruised and broken. On her way she stepped purposefully on the girl's small hand and it crunched painfully under her heeled shoe. Eva choked on a forbidden sob.

_**A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate**_

_**When morning comes it'll be too late**_

"Get back downstairs, you useless girl. I don't want to see your ugly face up here again until morning." She growled her parting words.

Eva stayed there unmoving as the footfalls faded away, only able to feel the ache of her battered little body. She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she finally hauled herself up and stumbled her way back down to the basement.

**o0o**

Something was shifting within the town. The clock tower that had stood still and silent in the centre of town for as long as Constance could remember was working again and a strange woman had appeared where she wasn't before. Not long after her arrival, the sun shone a little brighter, a little warmer. The cold north winds died down and the snow that fell turned to rain. More people ventured out onto the streets and Constance noted for the first time the small green sprouts that had appeared in her garden. The once sleepy little town seemed to be waking up, like a bear after a long winter's nap. Constance did not know whether to be pleased or worried.

When she saw the state of the twins when they arrived at school the next morning she chose worried. Eva looked exhausted, obviously having not slept the previous night. She was pale where she wasn't bruised and she walked with a bit of a limp. Her left hand looked swollen as she cradled it against her, fingers curled and bruised. Leah was decidedly better off than her sister, though she stuck to Eva's side like glue.

_**Through the wind and the rain they stand hard as stone**_

_**In their world that they can rise above**_

Constance took them straight to the principal's office, knowing by the look of Eva's hand it was likely broken, which was above the school nurse's capability. She was a little surprised when the principal called the sheriff to meet them at the hospital. The town was waking up indeed.

They got Eva patched up, though she wasn't entirely pleased about it and kept picking at her new purple cast. Sheriff Graham took their statements and while Constance had plenty to say, suddenly feeling a little less restrained than before, the twins kept mostly silent.

Life continued. A few weeks went by and nothing seemed to come of it, at least to Constance's knowledge. Then Sheriff Graham turned up dead. Constance of course had her reservations about what had happened and who, if anyone, was responsible.

**o0o**

Eva and Leah came to class early for a reason. That reason being that they felt safe with their teacher, the same teacher they'd had for, well, as long as they could remember. They didn't know why, but there was something about her that drew them in, like moths to a light. Perhaps that was it. They were moths trapped in the dark of night and she was their light. She cared for them more than their grandmother ever would and there was something oddly familiar about it, though they couldn't place what.

That morning, when they came in, they helped her setup for class. She smiled at them fondly and praised them for the essays they'd handed in. Their essays were always her favourite, she said, though they always called their work rubbish. Grandmother always said it was. She always said of course it was when it was being done by stupid girls like them.

But Constance told them that that was ridiculous and that they were so very smart and that she was proud to call them her students. She made them feel wanted and worthy and she was the one person who could put smiles on their faces.

_**But their dreams give them wings and they fly to a place **_

_**Where they're loved**_

_**Concrete angel**_

**o0o**

That weekend, the twins slipped out of the house while their grandmother was out and went into the woods. They'd always loved being around nature, with the open sky above their heads and the sun warming their pale faces. It gave them a sense of coveted freedom.

They wandered through the trees for a long time, listening to the birds and inspecting the new green plants that had grown up where plants hadn't been before. Leah had always been fascinated by plants, the way they lived but didn't move or make a sound. They stopped by a pond and Eva watched over her sister as a mother would watch over her child as she crouched at the edge and peered into the water. She smiled when Leah found a salamander and the girls talked about the small, lizard like creature that stared up at them with round black eyes. They thought it would be nice to be small and inconspicuous and easy to hide, like the creature they'd found. Maybe then, their grandmother would forget they existed and leave them be.

They continued on until they came to a place where the ground was dryer and the trees grew large, with heavy drooping branches and roots that were big enough to serve as benches. The ground was littered with pine needles that made the soil acidic. Leah said that that was why little else grew there. In the middle of a large clearing, they found an old stone well.

_**A statue stands in a shaded place**_

_**An angel girl with an upturned face**_

It was shaded by the large overhanging branches of the towering trees. As they crept forward, they wondered why there was a well out in the middle of nowhere. Their answer came in the form of a smooth, flat rock with the words 'wishing well' written on it in black paint. It was leaning up against the base of the well, serving as a makeshift sign. If someone had placed a wishing well in the middle of the woods for broken girls to find, they had certainly chosen the ideal spot.

They stood at the well and peered down into the stagnant water below. It glistened and there was a strange, warm sensation in the air around them that they couldn't explain. There was something familiar about it though. It felt safe. Protective. Like home. Not grandmother's house - they would never be safe there - but home, a place they couldn't remember but were certain they'd been.

_**A name is written on a polished rock**_

_**Broken hearts that the world forgot**_

There were two small, round stones, smooth like they'd been polished by river water, placed conveniently on edge of the well. They seemed to shimmer in a stream of sunlight that filtered through the trees and they caught Leah's eye as Eva reached into her pocket, in search of a penny that wasn't there. She sighed and shook her head.

"I'm sorry Leah. I don't have any either." She said

Leah picked up the stones. "That's okay. Maybe we could use these?" She held them up to show her sister.

Eva took one and inspected it. She'd seen them sitting there, as if they'd been left specifically for them. "Alright."

They stood side by side at the well, each clasping a stone in their hand as they closed their eyes and thought of a wish. It was foolish really, to make a wish on a well. A childish thing to do. If grandmother found out she'd punish them, and her punishments were never pleasant. Grandmother wasn't here though and what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Eva found herself wishing rather darkly that it would.

While the notion of making a wish at a wishing well might have seemed childish, the nature of the girls' wish was decidedly not so much. They wished for a safe place. To be free of their abusive grandmother. For someone to love them, if they were at all loveable. Grandmother never failed to remind them that they weren't.

The two stones landed with a splash in the water far below, sending out ripples that sloshed against the stone walls. The residue of long absent magic that had been left on the stones came in contact with the powerful magic of the well water. Too many years had gone by, too many bruises had formed and faded and too much suffering had come to pass in the lives of the girls who held this magic.

It was time to put things right again.

**o0o**

On the following Monday, something happened. Something deep within the very foundations of the town shifted and shattered and a great wave of what they would later realize was magic spread over the whole town. With it came memories. Those that surfaced first were the earliest. For Eva and Leah Mills, they were far from pleasant. As they were thrown headlong into their dark past, they found themselves struggling with a debilitating fear, a terror originating from their tortured childhoods. They struggled against the suffocating darkness, the knowledge that grandmother had found them, that their escape had been in vain.

Leah couldn't hold back her pained, terrified scream as images flashed through her mind like poison running through her veins. All she knew was the hot pain of a heated blade against already scarred skin. She could smell the sickening stench of burning flesh in the aftermath of a fireball. She cried as she was slammed down against a table and something came into sharp contact with her back until all she was aware of was agony.

Eva fought against the encroaching darkness and unforgiving pain of the things she was sure were happening all over again. She felt her mind failing her even as she pulled herself up and crawled across the floor towards her sister. Leah was cowering on the cold floor with her hands clasped over her ears, blue eyes wide and unfocused. She screamed again, pitching backwards as if she'd been struck.

"I'm sorry." She whimpered. "I'm sorry."

Eva reached for her and pulled her close, holding her even as she fought to escape. "Leah it's me. You're safe, you have to calm down." Her voice was strained as she spoke through her own debilitating flashbacks, always the one to push her own pain aside in order to help her beloved sister.

"No! Let me go! I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry. . ." Her screams turned to sobs as exhaustion took over and the ghostly remnants of past pain started to fade away. Eva held her and rocked her like a mother would do with her baby and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

_**Through the wind and the rain they stand hard as stone**_

_**In their world that they can rise above**_

Then, like a lantern in the dead of a moonless night, came the memory of a portal. Of an ancient castle and a woman, a witch. Of feeling safe in her arms and her promise to protect. Of being loved. They had to find her, their Mama. They wouldn't be safe until they did.

With twenty-eight years worth of pent up magic warm in their veins and sparking up their fingers, the twins rushed up the stairs to the locked basement door. Eva cast an unlocking spell that slammed into the door with such force it nearly flew off its hinges. When they slipped out into the hallway, they found the house beyond to be still and silent. Empty.

Eva held onto her sister's hand as she led the way to the foyer and out onto the porch. Running was just as much second function as magic was for them, so they knew they didn't have much time as they took off down the sidewalk.

**o0o**

For Constance, the experience of regaining her memories wasn't much better. At first she remembered her parents, how they'd died in the fire that consumed their home and she found silent tears running down her pale cheeks. Then came Mistress Broomhead, bringing with her her cruelty. Constance found herself frozen to her spot as painful memories sent fearful tremors through her slender form. Her ice queen facade that had briefly returned crumbled and collapsed in the face of her worst nightmare. The scars that littered her body burned although they'd been torn open again as she was reduced back to the scared little girl that had always been present behind the infallible mask.

Then Mistress Broomhead finally faded away and she recognized Cackle's Academy. Her home. Her safe haven and her hiding place. Miss Cackle, her beloved protector. Her colleagues and her pupils. The morning she'd met the twins, abused and afraid on her doorstep. Her promise to protect them and a maternal need to love them as only a mother can. Her beautiful, precious little girls.

More tears formed in her brown eyes and she covered her mouth when she pushed away her newly regained memories and remembered the events of the curse. Of her precious girls coming to class early with bruises and cuts and tired dark eyes. Of her girls stumbling into her classroom half frozen on frigid winter days because they didn't have coats. Her girls had been suffering at the hand of the very woman she had promised would never harm them again and she had been powerless to help them, restrained by the curse as she'd been.

She had to find them, she had to get them out of there. But would they even want to see her? She'd broken her promise to them, why should they want anything more to do with her? She could hardly blame them if they pushed her away, after all, she'd failed them. But she couldn't leave them with that woman. Even if they hated her now, she could still protect them.

With that thought in mind, she left her house. She didn't have her broomstick (Merlin knew where it was now) so she'd have to walk, not that she knew where Cora Mills lived anyway. Probably some wealthy neighbourhood somewhere. Constance's lips twisted in disgust. That woman didn't even deserve a dirt floored hovel, never mind a luxury home. She turned down the street and picked up her pace.

The town was in chaos. There were people everywhere, if they weren't running around searching frantically for loved ones, they were partaking in tearful reunions. Constance ignored them all. She didn't care what anyone else was doing. All she was aware of was the fact that her girls were alone and afraid at the mercy of their abuser and that she had to find them. She needed to get them away from _that woman. _She needed to hold them and comfort them and _protect _them. But above all else she needed to get them home to the security of the place where they'd always felt safe. Even if they no longer wanted her. Even if they pushed her away and cried for their real mother, she would still love them as her own, because that was what they were. Her's. Her daughters. They always had been, ever since she'd first laid eyes on them, broken and abused and afraid, and she'd decided then and there that she had to help them, because they didn't deserve to end up like her, alone and afraid. She hadn't been able to stop herself from loving them, from the moment she'd met them, damaged and afraid, but ever so smart. Ever so loveable, despite what they thought.

**o0o**

Eva and Leah were hardwired to run. It had been second function ever since they'd taken their first steps. When grandmother was about, one did not stick around to find out what she might do.

They couldn't get out of the neighbourhood fast enough though and apparently Grandmother knew them well, because the next thing they knew, her deep red Mercedes was rounding the corner ahead of them. Both parties stopped, and the older woman got out of her car.

"My my, where _are_ _we _all off to so quickly?" She sneered. "One would think the world is ending, the way everyone's running around today. It's so improper. I am sure I taught you better than that, did I not?"

Eva backed away fearfully, pulling Leah with her. Her hands were shaking with both built up magic and nerves and she couldn't stop the practiced, almost automatic answer. "Yes, Grandmother. You did. Running is unladylike. We won't do it again."

Grandmother scoffed. "You always were convincing liars." She stepped closer. "Get in the car."

They stepped back. Leah was scarcely breathing and Eva knew she had to get them out of there. Just as her magic came up to swallow them both in a transference spell, she felt Leah's do the same. Both were frantic and terrified and in that frantic terror, they became disharmonized. Their respective magic started to pull them in opposing directions through the ether. Panicked, Eva reached out with her magic, searching for her sister. Leah did the same. They were suddenly being pulled back together and, with a gasp, they rematerialized in another part of town.

Directly in front of another woman.

She was standing in her driveway, about to head inside her house. When she saw them, she froze. Brown eyes grew wide with shock. Her perfect face was familiar and Eva didn't like it. They'd seen this woman once before, years ago in grandmother's maze. Eva remembered. She remembered how all she'd seen when she looked at her was Grandmother, because like mother, like daughter, right? _Of course_ their mother would be a monster, just like their grandmother. _Of course _she'd probably want to hurt them the first chance she got.

She was frozen for a moment, watching the woman's brown eyes as they shifted from their pale, bruised faces to the purple cast that still covered Eva's hand.

Then she snapped out of it.

"Merlin's beard." She muttered, cursing their bad luck, even though she knew it probably had more to do with their magic seeking out a biologically similar signature to gravitate to in the absence of a given destination than with actual luck.

She grabbed Leah's hand again and took off running, dragging Leah with her, because _like hell _she was going to put her sister in danger again. They ran down the sidewalk and Eva started to panic when she heard the woman's heeled shoes clicking behind them. Running was one thing, but being chased while running was quite another, especially when one wasn't in a fit state to be running in the first place, and Eva and Leah were decidedly not. Being starved meant having low energy and Eva could feel her energy draining fast.

"Wait!"

The word was muffled and Eva hadn't really heard it at all. She was no longer aware of her surroundings, having fallen into a sort of autopilot. She was aware of her feet hitting the ground and Leah's hand in hers and her heart pumping and lungs working in overdrive, but that was about it, the rest was a blur.

_Run._

That was it. It was pure instinct, it always had been. To run while the running was good. If they were lucky, they'd escape. If she was lucky she'd get her sister to safety, away from the danger. Because she'd never really cared about herself, as long as Leah was safe.

Leah stumbled along behind her sister, clutching Eva's hand tightly in her own. She felt hot tears burning behind her eyes, because she was scared. She was so very afraid but she didn't have the energy to keep going. She could feel her lungs aching and she wanted to stop. She just wanted to be safe and loved again. She knew it was childish, but she wanted her Mama. Because Mama always made it better. She always felt safe with her. Leah didn't really know why, because trust had always been hard for her, but she had always felt safe with her mum, ever since she'd first awoken in her lap all those years ago at Cackle's, before she was Mum. Leah remembered the way her magic had felt that day, protective like no one else's ever had been. From that moment, Leah had known she was finally home.

Quite suddenly, Leah's foot caught in a crack. Down she went, slamming into the pavement with a sickening thud, chest heaving and small, frail body exhausted. Her knees scraped painfully and she could feel blood welling beneath her tights, but it wasn't the pain that caused her tears to fall because she'd always had a high pain tolerance. She had to with the life she'd led.

She curled in on herself, tears streaming down her face. Twenty-eight years worth of pain and fear and hopelessness finally taking their toll, a lifetime of lonely suffering finally catching up with her. She wasn't aware of what was happening around her as she sobbed. She didn't know there was anyone besides Eva there until a cool hand touched her back and she screamed in terror, flying forwards and slamming into Eva who held her tight. Leah cried some more, because Eva was Eva, beautiful, wonderful, amazing Eva, who'd always been there for her, but she wasn't Mama.

"I want Mama!" She wailed rather childishly. "I want M-Mama!"

Eva held her close, not caring - _never _caring - that the front of her dress was soaked with her baby sister's tears. "I know you do. I know." She soothed. "We'll find her. I won't stop looking until we do. I'll get you back to her. I'll see that you're safe again. I promise."

Leah continued to sob, because suddenly everything hurt and she couldn't control her terror and nothing was okay. "I want to go home! I hate this stupid town! I-I want to go h-home!"

Eva sighed, her heart shattering. "Shh, I know. I know, little one." She continued to hush and rock her sister, the way she'd always done. Leah continued to cry, finally breaking after far too long being far too strong. Eva tried desperately to calm her, but for the first time she failed. She knew that Leah needed their Mum, but a small, twisted little part of her was still jealous that she was no longer enough.

Suddenly, Leah's scream tore her back to the present and she realized the woman who had followed them was trying to touch her again. Leah was clearly not in any fit state to be touched by strangers, even if they were well-meaning strangers. The woman's stupidity only served to upset her more, thus pissing Eva off, because no one - _no one _\- was allowed to touch her sister when she clearly did not wish to be touched.

"Don't touch her!" Eva snapped, holding Leah tighter. "She's mine!"

The woman pulled away, startled. "But I - I can help. I'm - I'm your mother. She's asking for me. Let me help."

"No!" Eva snarled. "You've done enough! This is all your fault! If you hadn't cast that stupid curse, none of this would have happened! You've ruined everything!"

Leah whimpered. "She found us because of you."

"Yes!" Eva continued, masking fear with fury. "She found us because of you! We were free and safe and loved for the first time ever and you ruined that! Life was finally worth living but you couldn't just let us be happy, could you? You dumped us with her before, of course you'd do it again!"

The woman had gone pale. "W-what?" She looked around at the people who were watching, attention pulled from their own reunions. "Who's _she?_ I thought you were dead -"

"You never had proof!" Cried Leah. "You just took her word for it! If you had cared, you would have looked for us!" She turned around and buried her face back in Eva's chest. "Go away."

The woman looked devastated and that small, twisted part of her was pleased that she'd managed to cause her birth mother a fraction of the pain they'd felt. The other part of her, the part who would do anything for her beloved sister, who loved to help and heal others and fought against the darkness everyday, was sickened that she was pleased by someone else's pain.

Eva shifted and pulled Leah away from her, so she could look at her. "Now, Leah-love, we can't blame her for everything, she doesn't control grandmother's actions. You know that." She said, despite the fact that she would very much like to blame her birth mother for everything. But that was just illogical.

"Yes we can." Leah mumbled back as she lay her head on Eva's shoulder.

Eva, glad she'd calmed her sister, smiled fondly. "Well, we could, but it would hardly be logical, would it?"

"No." Leah was eyeing the woman in question distrustfully. She was watching them curiously, surprised by the change of events, by the almost motherly way Eva spoke to her sister. "But I don't like her anyway. She touched me. She wants to hurt me."

Eva held her closer. "Then I'll protect you. Just like always."

"But. . ." Leah stared up at her, eyes wet. "But what about you? Who'll protect you? I-I can't see you hurt again. I-I c-can't -"

Eva smiled sadly. "I'll be okay. I promise." Privately, she didn't think this woman wanted to hurt them, but she wasn't taking any chances. They were all silent for a long moment as Eva rubbed soothing circles over Leah's back and their birth mother stared at them as if she'd never seen such a thing in her life.

After a time, Leah spoke again, her voice muffled by Eva's dress as she held onto her sister. "Eva? Are you still there?"

Eva smoothed a hand over Leah's hair. "Of course I am silly."

"Where's Mama? Do you think she's looking for us?" Leah questioned hopefully.

"I know she is, little one."

Regina didn't like the way they spoke as if she wasn't even there. "I'm here. You've found me. I've found _you._" She smiled, but it didn't have the desired effect.

Eva flinched and held Leah tighter. Yes, she had found them and that was hardly a good thing. "Yes, well. That solves that then, doesn't it?" Her voice was dripping in sarcasm.

Regina opened her mouth to reply, but Leah, who hadn't been paying much attention to the exchange, spoke instead. "What if she doesn't love us anymore, Eva? What if she doesn't want us back?" Tears formed in her beautiful blue eyes. "What if she's finally realized we're just as worthless as Grandmother always says we are?"

Eva would have broken down in tears right then and there. But she didn't, because she had to be strong for her sister. So, not for the first time, she shoved her own insecurities aside and looked down at Leah, eyes full of love. "You mustn't believe what Grandmother tells us, little one, like mum says, it's just a bunch of rubbish."

Grandmother. Their grandmother was her mother. Her mother was Cora Mills, that cruel and vindictive woman who'd raised her. The woman who'd stolen them away from her right after their birth. It was then that the horrifying realization dawned on her. Her mother had kept them from her. Had lied about their deaths and kept them locked away so she wouldn't find them. "No. . ."

Eva's head snapped up, eyes blazing. "Yes!" She snapped, as she shot to her feet and pulled Leah up with her. "All of the horrid things she's told us, it's all rubbish! And we don't believe any of it! Not anymore! I won't stand here and let you tell my sister otherwise! We've worked too hard to fix ourselves for you to just drag us down again!" She seethed. "We know you've never wanted us, that you've always hated us! You needn't follow in _her_ footsteps, because I will not allow it! Do you hear me!" She screamed. "I will not let you hurt my sister!"

Regina stared, unsure of how to react. Whatever she had expected, it was certainly not this. She didn't know where the sudden anger had come from, or why it was directed at her. She didn't know - or understand rather - why they were suddenly viewing her as a threat, didn't realize that they'd always seen her that way.

"We don't need you!" Eva continued. "We've never needed you and we're not about to start now! We've always been just fine on our own!"

"Eva -" Regina started, but she was cut off.

"No! You do not get to speak!" Eva screamed. "Do you want to know why? Because you are a worthless mother! I have spent my entire life caring for Leah in your absence, because why? You were too fucking busy trying to kill Snow fucking White to see through the lie you'd been fed!" Her voice was growing hoarse from screaming and there were hot tears streaming down her face. "And do you know what the most pathetic part of all is? You failed at that to! I was a more effective assassin at eight years old! If I had wanted to, I could have killed her years ago!"

Eva finally stopped, breathless and chest heaving from finally letting it out. She let out a choked, exhausted sob because she'd seen far too much, was far too broken to fix. Because she'd never spoken of what their grandmother had forced her to do and no one knew she was still haunted by the dead eyes of her victims. Because despite following grandmother's orders to a T, she'd still been unable to truly protect her sister.

**o0o**

Constance was trying her best not to panic, but she hadn't found any sign of her girls anywhere she looked. She had found a house where she thought their grandmother lived (it was rather large with a mailbox out front with the surname Mills on it), but no one was home. She had checked properly of course, using a spell to unlock the door and look inside. She wouldn't put it past that woman to lock them up in there so they couldn't get out. She didn't care that it was technically breaking and entering. Not that she'd actually broken anything.

What if Cora had taken them someplace else, hidden them away so they'd never be found? She told herself not to think like that, that the twins were smart. They would know about magic again, they'd probably escaped and were on the run, like they'd done the first time around, years ago. They'd found each other then, and they hadn't even been looking.

They could find each other again.

She left Crown street behind. A few streets over, she found Mifflin Street. There were more people here and they seemed to be forming a mob. Constance ignored them and picked up her pace. She didn't want to get caught up in whatever that was about.

She looked around, away from the mob when she heard a very familiar raised voice. Eva and Leah were standing in front of a woman who looked startlingly like them, and Eva was shouting furiously at her. She crossed the street and came up behind them, careful not to startle them.

"You needn't shout, Eva." Constance said softly.

The twins recognized her voice immediately. They spun around, hardly daring to hope. When they saw each other, the world stopped spinning for a moment. The clouds parted, the sun shone. The long, frigid winter had finally given way to summer. Leah started to cry again, because the storm, an unstoppable hurricane, was over at last.

"Mama!"

Eva sobbed, relief and sudden exhaustion making her knees go weak and her legs give out. Constance caught her with an arm around her waist and pulled her close. Eva latched onto her, hands gripping bunches of her clothes as she cried.

"My girls. Oh my girls." She gasped as she held them. "I've found you now. You're safe. I was so worried."

Leah sniffled and choked on a sob. "Mama." She cried. "We were so s-scared without y-you."

Constance held them both tight. She could feel their bones, sharp under their pale skin and realized how thin they'd gotten. She saw the bruises maring their beautiful faces and the barely masked fear in their tired, dark eyes. Eva's cast felt odd an unnatural as the girl wrapped her arms around her and she couldn't help but feel she'd failed her girls. "I'm so sorry."

They cried harder, because they didn't want their mother to blame herself, because it wasn't her fault. Could never be her fault. Constance held them, letting them release all the pain and trauma of the past twenty-eight years. She knew what it felt like to fall after trying so hard to fix herself. It happened when she'd been unceremoniously reunited with her former tutor during the inspection and again when the horrid woman had stood in as headmistress. Smaller scale, yes, but the same thing.

"It'll be okay now, I've got you. I've got you now." She whispered into their ears.

"But Mama, she's here. She's found us and she wants us back, I know she does." Leah whimpered fearfully. "She wants to lock us away and -"

Constance placed a gentle kiss on her daughter's hair, effectively silencing her. "I'll never let her lay another finger on you, my kittens, I promise. I promise. If she so much as _thinks _of touching a single hair on your heads, I'll curse her into oblivion myself."

Eva and Leah giggled tearfully at that and buried their faces in her chest, taking in the still present scent of herbs that they had always associated with their Mum. It had been painfully absent for far to long.

She leaned her forehead against the tops of their heads and let her tears wet their ebony hair. "I love you both so much."

_**But their dreams give them wings and they fly to a place**_

_**Where they're loved**_

_**Concrete angel**_


End file.
